The Intervalgram as a Visual Presentation of Speech Sounds Free

The points of zero crossing and the points of zero slope of the oscillograms of speech sounds are considered to contain the essential information for intelligibility. The intervals between zero crossings θ₀, and the intervals between zero slopes θ_m, are plotted as points in rectangular coordinates. The ordinate of the dot is a function of θ(θ₀ or θ_m), and the abscissa is a function of the time of occurrence t of the particular θ. The choice of these functions depends upon the types of portrayal needed for a specific analysis of speech sounds. The resulting intervalgram gives a halftone picture (consisting of dots) of speech sounds. The patterns may be proportioned to show either a detailed or general representation of the variation of the interval distribution. One type of pattern portrayed at the speech rate on a cathode‐ray oscilloscope with a screen of long persistence has been found quite similar in certain respects to the patterns obtainable by the sound spectrograph as described in the book Visible Speech by Potter, Kopp, and Green. The equipment involved in obtaining the intervalgram, however, is much simpler.